To answer your first question, no. Not even close.
Tenacity said:
But I'm just saying....are any of you guys in this same situation? Where if you actually looked at your life, you could be labeled a Sociopath?
On the one hand, part of me wants to say, "Oh, man. Things would be SO much easier if I were."
I deeply understand sociopathy. There are a couple of close relatives and close friends I've known in my life who are classic sociopaths, psychopaths, pathological liars, bipolar or borderline personality disorder, addicts; you name it, I've dealt with it.
I recognize that a sociopath has a natural ability to "turn on the charm" and "fake it" without ever feeling consequences for their actions, and a pathological liar is able to weave complex and truly mesmerizing tales that enable them to easily perform DHVs and create scenarios and emotions that feel very real for their partner, quickly ensnaring their whole wills and lives into their net, until they have a ready and willing army of puppets in their lives.
However, after experiencing this repeatedly and intimately, I can honestly say that despite these "advantages", I wouldn't wish any of the aforementioned disorders on anyone. The people I've known with these kinds of mental maladies lead some of the loneliest and most woefully pitiful, empty lives you could possibly imagine... and nobody can ever cure them, because they are so tragically adept at using mental judo and total emotional isolation or possibly even obliteration that they are unreachable by any means.
I don't lament my ability to be deeply hurt by experiencing what I've felt was love before, nor do I regret having been wounded, and learning from those experiences, and recovering, and becoming a more whole person as a result. I'm better learning what qualifies as a meaningful relationship in my life, and I've evolved a better understanding of what my needs and expectations are.
... also, the number of movies I've cried during is probably the most embarrassing fact in the universe about me, and much of my life is a struggle between my logical and emotional selves. I'm pretty sure I'm not a sociopath.
